


The Boy In The Bubble

by B_Rabbit14



Series: Gravity Falls Shorts By B_Rabbit14 [2]
Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Alternate Universe - Transcendence (Gravity Falls), Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Bittersweet, Multi, Sad Dipper Pines
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-19
Updated: 2020-04-19
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:07:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,884
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23727304
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/B_Rabbit14/pseuds/B_Rabbit14
Summary: The Bubble...Mabel didn't think she'd ever have to worry about seeing it again. And she doesn't because this time it's not her that's trapped inside, it's her brother.But something isn't right...No one can make The Bubble but... Bill. And he's supposed to be gone.Right...?
Relationships: Dipper Pines & Mabel Pines, Dipper Pines & Willow Pines
Series: Gravity Falls Shorts By B_Rabbit14 [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1886872
Comments: 6
Kudos: 41





	The Boy In The Bubble

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoy this, I don't really have the brain power to make a proper author's note so all I can say is that I apologize for any mistakes I may have made that were overlooked.

Dipper growled lowly and raked his fingers through his hair as he continued to walk through the forest. The gnomes were at it again with trying to get him to find them a new queen, and after dealing with a quite lopsided deal he was rightfully in a foul mood. He didn't want to head home to the shack yet, afraid he might lash out at his family and he still had a bit more time of corporeality so he though a nice walk through the woods would help cool him down. It was what he used to do before...

Before the Transcendence...

Before he became a demon. Before his parents had begun to resent him. Before he became like  _ him _ .

Dipper could practically hear his sniveling voice now, whispering in his ear a whole assortment of awful lies.

_ "Cσɱҽ σɳҽ Pιɳҽƚɾҽҽ, ιƚ αιɳ'ƚ ƚԋαƚ Ⴆαԃ Ⴆҽιɳɠ ʅιƙҽ ɱҽ." _

"Shut up..."

Memories began to resurface, of all the times he had lost himself to his demonic urges. All the times his powers caused chaos that Bill would surely be proud of.

_ "I ԃσɳ'ƚ ƙɳσɯ, I ƚԋιɳƙ I ƈσυʅԃ ԋαʋҽ ƈσɱҽ υρ ɯιƚԋ ʂσɱҽƚԋιɳɠ Ⴆҽƚƚҽɾ." _

Dipper grounded his teeth together and clenched his hands into fists at his sides. He closed his eyes and took a few deep laboring breaths.

_ He's not here, he's gone. We got rid of him... We got rid of him. _

_ "Aɾҽ ʂυɾҽ αႦσυƚ ƚԋαƚ ƙιԃ?" _

Dipper's eyes shot opened and he whirled around to look behind him only to be met with several trees and other woodland creatures that had been brave enough to get close to him. The young demon brought a hand and clenched the area of his shirt above his heart which would most definitely be racing if he was still alive. Dipper turned left and right looking for any sign of the source of the voice, he let out an unnecessary breath and grounded the heels of his palms into his eyes struggling to get his bearings.

But what if... He wasn't gone?

Then he would have lost his humanity for nothing! Every day he always told himself that maybe being like this was worth it if that meant Bill was gone for good. If he wasn't gone then that would mean he was going to come back for his powers or worse... What if he could use Dipper against his family, what if Bill made him kill them. Memories of when Bill had possessed him and nearly killed Mabel came to mind and Dipped shivered as he curled his wings around himself, clutching his head he fell to his knees as his mind began to spiral out of control. So many different scenarios flew through his mind it was impossible to tell which ones were being supplied by his omniscience or his paranoia. The air began to feel heavy and constricting around him Dipper felt warm liquid stream down his face and couldn't tell if it was tears or blood from digging his claws into his scalp. Golden drops fell to the ground sizzling lightly upon contact, Dipper continued to heave deep breaths trying to ground himself to reality but nothing was working. He couldn't hear anything beyond the sound of Bill's voice whispering into his ear pointing out his flaws and fears nearly making his greatest one a reality.

_ "Lσσƙ αƚ ყσυ, ʂυƈԋ α ραƚԋҽƚιƈ ɱҽʂʂ..." _

_ "Iƚ'ʂ ϝυɳɳყ ԋσɯ ԃυɱႦ ყσυ αɾҽ..." _

_ "Iƚ'ʂ α ɯσɳԃҽɾ ɯԋყ Sԋσσƚιɳɠ Sƚαɾ ԋαʂɳ'ƚ ɠσƚƚҽɳ ɾιԃ σϝ ყσυ ყҽƚ..." _

_ "Wԋყ ԃσɳ'ƚ ყσυ ʝυʂƚ ԋαɳԃ σʋҽɾ ƚԋҽ ɾҽιɳʂ ƚσ  _ M̶̫̪̹̋E̸̡̛͇̪͚̤̼̥͚̊̈̃̓͠?"

"S̷̡̩̲͎̖̗̫̖͎͐̃̿͒͐̚̕͜h̵̛̹̫̦̰̙̪͒̅͛̍̈̚͠ṷ̷̧̜͙̳͍̦̺̻͓̀̉̄ţ̸̫͕̹͉͕̦̟̤̓̎̍̓͐͂͝ ̴̟̮̮̜̗͙͑͛̎̓̈͝u̴̡̼͛̇̏p̸̢̛̰̱̝̞͍̠̪̠̮̈́͗̅͋͊́́!̸̡̩͍͕͖̗̯̈͋̌̚͜"

"Ś̶̛̘̣̙͕͓̬͓͈̂̔̒̃̃̈̇̃H̵̘̹͕̼̾͠Ų̶̡̼͓͖̤͖̙̱͂̾̂͠͝ͅṰ̵͚̪̦̰̰̮̪̄̑̏̅̎̄̾ ̸̮͉̣̙̙̜̤̹̯̅̈́͐̆̌͗̆͂́̚U̵̖̰̳̼̖̱͉͊͘̕͘͜P̴̢̢̡̠̝̤̯͉̑̌̀̃̂̽̌̂̾͜ ̴̭̗̋̋̀B̷̡̧̤̱͊̈́̆̑̈́̅̄͊I̷̫͖͍̾̒̐̈́̔̂̾L̴̤̫̆͒͆̀̀͂̀͒̚L̶͔̪̮̹͂̒̇̋̏̍̑͜!̵̺̬̝̇̓̾̿!̷̠̥͓͙̩̬̫̱̥͛!̶̧̘̘̠͖̦̤̱̺͗̎͂"

Dipper's screams echoed throughout the entire forest as he slammed his fist onto the ground causing a tremor to pass through the earth, shaking the ground. Thunder and lightning cracked across the once clear blue skies and the winds picked up howling ferociously but as quickly the chaos came it left and silence filled the air. Time seemed to come to a standstill the forest seeming to be empty of the demon that had been there moments before but in his place was a large shining cyan blue bubble bound to the earth by inky black chains that dug into the soil and warped any surrounding plant life causing it to crumble and wither under their dark magic. The bubble gave an off an eerie glow and low hum promptly stopping any woodland creatures from coming anywhere near its vicinity, faint whispers could be heard as the light from the bubble shined brighter.

* * *

Mabel had been knitting another sweater on the couch with the television on as background noise, she sighed and leaned back setting her work aside for a moment and closed her eyes. It wasn't every day that she was able to relax like this, Grunkle Stan was taking care of the library for the day and the kids wouldn't be home from school for another half hour at the most, Henry was still at work and Dipper was off dealing with a summoning. She loved her family to death and would do anything for them but it was an understatement to say that everyone got a little overwhelming at times, those times were when quiet days like this were much appreciated. Mabel was brought of her musings when the entirety of the shack seemed to shake with a loud rumble, she gasped and shot a look out the window just in time to see dark storm clouds whirling around in the sky. To her surprise as soon as the mini earthquake began it stopped taking the dark clouds along with it.

For a moment she only stood there staring blankly at the window before letting out a soft sigh, "So much for a quiet afternoon," She grumbled under her breath as she moved to stand. The door leading into the living area of the Shack slammed opened and Stan barged in with a wild look in his eye.

"What the hell was that all about?!" He shouted and walked over to Mabel to help her up. She brushed him off and stood herself the walked over to the window and saw that the sky was once again blue as if the last few seconds did not so much as happen. Mabel turned back to her Grunkle and shrugged helplessly.

"I don't know," She answered and moved past him to walk towards the front door where she bent down and began to put some shoes on.

"Where are you going?" Stan questioned a few feet from behind her.

"I'm gonna pick up the kids and then head into the forest later to see if I can find whatever caused," She gestured lamely towards the door, ", that." She finished as she stood, Stan, frowned deeply.

"This better not be some result of some demon fuckery..." Stan muttered to himself as he ran a hand through his gray hair. He looked a Mabel again, "Be careful out there," He placed a hand on her shoulder, Mabel looked up at him about to retort playfully but her sassy remark died on the tip of her tongue when she saw how serious he was. She grabbed his hand and squeezed it reassuringly.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine." She gave him a quick hug. She opened the door but looked back to Stan who still looked like he had something to say, "Besides, I've dealt with worse." She then closed the door and walked over to the car. Once inside the car, she didn't bother buckling herself in before flying out of the parking lot. She arrived at the school fairly quickly and wasn't surprised to see that they had decided to let the students out early in case any more incidents happened later after the small earthquake. Either way, she was going to pick her kids up so it didn't matter to her. When she pulled up to the front of the school she could see the triplets waited, Acacia seemed to be shouting some last farewells to some friends while Hank talked with Willow.

They all looked towards the car once it neared them and silently got in Acacia taking shotgun while Hank and Willow took the seats in the back. No one spoke for a few minutes as Mabel pulled out of the school's parking lot.

"So..." Acacia began slowly glancing at her mom before looking back out the window. "The tiny earthquake..."

"You don't think it had something to do with Uncle Dipper do you?" Willow asked looking at her Mother worriedly through the rearview mirror, Mabel glanced at her before her gaze to the road as she drove at a more steady pace.

"Do you think some other demon came to mess with him?" Hank asked with a neutral expression but anyone could see the worry shining in his eyes.

Mabel didn't answer for a moment, she wanted to believe that Dipper wasn't reckless and that he would never bring the danger home with him. But this was her brother, and if he was still anything like she remembered him that most like wasn't the case. After another long minute of tense silence, Mabel sighed as she directed the car around a bend and onto the forest road leading back to the Mystery Shack.

"If I'm being honest, I will not be surprised to find your uncle at the center of all this," She smiled fondly, "But, I'm sure he's just fine. He can take care of himself, he'll probably be back by dinner." The kids nodded and no one said anything for the rest of the ride.

* * *

"Alright Dipdops, come on out!" Mable shouted as she pressed her hand against the summoning circle etched onto the kitchen floor next to it was a plate of Henry's meatloaf. When the candles surrounded the summoning circle didn't so much as flicker Mabel frowned, Henry who was watching from the doorway walked to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders allowing her to lean on him.

"I'm sure he's just busy with another summoning or something," Henry tried to reassure his wife even though he was growing increasingly worried himself. It wasn't like Dipper to not at least let them know if something dragged on longer than he had expected or stay away from the shack longer than a few hours much less nearly an entire day. Even in his worst of moods, he would watch over through the mindscape. Henry had been home for hours and not once had he felt the chilling presence he had gotten used to creep up behind him nor had he smelt the sudden scent of pine trees. The redheaded male knew just as well as the demon's sister that Dipper could take care of himself but a part of him couldn't help but be as worried as his wife, He didn't want to outwardly show it lest he was to make his family more stressed.

When Mabel didn't respond and continued to stare at the still empty circle Henry gently pulled her in for a hug. After a moment Mabel returned the hug, "Hey," He called gently and she looked up at him with sad eyes. "If he still hasn't come back after dinner you and I can take a look around the forest. Maybe Dipper got caught up figuring out what happen earlier," He suggested and Mabel nodded. The two adults then turned their back on the summoning circle and walked to the other room to collect the rest of the family for dinner leaving the plate on the ground.

* * *

"Mom," Mabel looked up from where she was tying her bright yellow converse and saw her youngest peeking through the doorway. Willow wore a frown and was twisting the hem of her pale purple sweater in her hands, Mabel sat up straighter and met her daughter tentative gaze.

"Is something wrong?" Mabel found herself asking despite telling herself to remain calm, she was hoping that the children would be heading to bed by the time she and Henry began to head out. Willow fidgeted before moving to step into the room then stopped and continued to stand in the doorway with a deep frown. Willow brought a hand to her chest and clenched the fabric of her shirt above her heart, her brows furrowed and she took a deep breath. Mabel got up and crossed the room before kneeling in front of her daughter and placing her hands on her shoulders. "Sweetie, tell me what's wrong," She prodded gently. Willow looked at her mom then to the ground, she took another deep breath and ran a hand through her hair.

"I feel something..." She muttered and Mabel's frown deepened.

"Feel what, honey?"

"Like a tugging sensation... I-I can't explain it, but I just feel like I need to come with you." She said finally looking into Mabel's eyes, once again Mabel was reminded that Willow had seen things and knew things that a child her age shouldn't have to. "I think it has something to do with Uncle Dipper..." She whispered. Mable sighed and shook her head, she didn't want to drag her children into these things but if she had learned anything it was to take Willow's warnings seriously. She looked at her daughter again who had a scared expression playing on her features, Mabel stood up and ruffled her hair before moving to grab her bag.

"Go tell you're brother and sister to get ready and be in the den in five minutes."

So with that, the whole family minus Stan was going to investigate the forest together.

* * *

"Does anyone know what the heck that is?" Acacia questioned loudly, they had been following Willow who couldn't explain how but she knew the way. After walking for half an hour they began to see a bright blue light once they found its source they were shocked to see it was a giant bubble giving off a bright cyan glow, what unnerved them the most was the inky black chains that wrapped around it and grounded it to the ground. Acacia reached out to touch only to be yanked away by her father, she shot him a questioning glare.

"Don't it, we don't know what it is yet," He explained, though Acaia saw that a more of a reason to touch it. She obeyed and stepped back a bit then turned to look at her mom. Henry followed her gaze and felt his heart drop at the sight of his wife's face, all the color had drained away from Mabel's face and she stared wide-eyed ahead of her. "Mabel?" He called snapping her out of her reverie, her eyes moved to Henry and the bubble before settling on her husband. "Are you okay?"

"Y-yeah, I'm- I'm fine." She said softly and turned back to look at the bubble again, Henry wasn't convinced and one look at his children told him they weren't either. They silently agreed not to push the subject.

"Do you know what it is?" Hank asked tentatively, Mabel nodded.

"It's The Bubble," She said quietly raising a hand to touch, Henry moved to stop her but thought better of it. If she knew what it was and was touching than maybe it wasn't as dangerous as he thought, Mabel laid her hand flat against. When nothing seemed to happen Henry let out a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding, Mable's hand glided over the surface for a moment before she stopped suddenly.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Acacia asked not realizing how distressed her mother was.

"Mom," Willow interrupted her sister causing both of her parents to look at her, suddenly worried how Willow was handling this knowing how sensitive she tended to be around magic. Willow wasn't looking at any of them, she stared wide-eyed at the bubble with her hands clutched on her hands above her chest. "He's in there," She told them suddenly, Mable moved in front of her momentarily blocking the young girl's view. Willow craned her neck to continue looking it.

"Who is?" Henry asked before Mable could, she wasn't sure if she wanted to know though.

"Uncle Dipper," She answered and Mable felt her stomach drop.

"What?"

"How?"

Mable hardly heard her other children and looked at Henry, fear shining through her eyes.

* * *

"Mable, you need to explain," Henry was trying to get his wife's attention but she was ignoring him in favor of digging through her things looking for her phone. They had come back home when Mable said they needed to get help, she didn't explain past that. Mable walked past him and to the den where Stan was seated in his recliner watching TV, Mable approached Stan causing the old man to look up his annoyed expression morphing to one of worry once he looked at his great-niece. Henry stood behind her wanting to understand.

"What number is Grunkle Ford using now?" She asked hurriedly.

"Now, what's all this about?" He asked.

"Grunkle Stan, it's important," Mable urged, her eyes wide with fear.

"You gotta explain what's going-"

"I just need to talk to him!" She shouted suddenly causing both men to flinch at her volume. Mabel took a few deep breaths, "I'm sorry, it's just," She ran a hand through her hair and began to pace the room. "Something wrong with Dipper, and I need to know if Grunkle Ford can help," She was about to drive headfirst into another rant but Stan cut her off.

"We can use the radio in the basement," He said getting her attention then stood up and cracked his back before leading them to the new entrance. Ford and deemed the vending machine was too conspicuous and also since it was where strangers could easily access it he had managed to build a new entrance after successfully sealing off the old one. The new entrance was located in the hallway leading to the kitchen, hidden behind a small photo of Mabel and Dipper while they were on the fishing trip on their first summer in Gravity Falls was a keypad. Stan entered the code and a portion of the wall slid sideways revealing a staircase that led to yet another newly made elevator- another reason Ford wanted a new way to the basement the old elevator was falling apart at the seams. The group of three moved quickly down the stairs and squeezed into the elevator. Once it reached the corrected level the walked into the basement Mabel making a beeline towards the area she remembered the radio was hooked up.

Stan turned to Henry and opened his mouth to say something. "I have no idea what's going on with her she hasn't explained anything to me yet," Henry said holding his hands in a surrendering motion, Stan rose a skeptical eyebrow. "We went into the forest and found a big sphere Mabel keeps referring to as 'The Bubble', and then Willow said something about Dipper being stuck inside the Mabel began to freak out." Henry sighed and glanced over at Mabel who was grumbling to herself as she fiddled with the dials and switches. "Do you know what she was talking about?" He asked desperate to understand, he wanted to help his family as much as Mable did but if she wasn't going to explain than how was he supposed to help in any way.

"I don't know much of the finer details but during-" He hesitated and swallowed deeply.

"It's okay, you don't have to tell me if it involves what happened," Henry reassured.

"No, you deserve to know and if those knuckleheads aren't going to tell you then I might as well be the one to," He took a deep breath before seeming to gather the courage to remember that summer. "When all that happened Mabel and Dipper were separated from me and I was at the Shack with the rest of the townsfolk, Dipper was out there trying to survive while Mabel.." He paused and glanced over at the only female in the room who was cursing colorfully as she still fiddled with the radio some more. "Mabel was in a bubble of some sort that Bill made to trap her inside," Stan said quietly. "Dipper went inside and got her out and they never said much about what went down inside so I don't know much other than that." henry had never heard much about Bill other than it was his fault for what happened to Dipper and he barely knew how that happened.

"The Bubble shows you what you want and fools you into wanting to stay inside, as  _ he _ once said it would take a will of titanium to break out," Both men turned and saw that Mable had stopped messing with the radio but had yet to turn and face them. "I didn't want to leave but Dipper managed to not be fooled by whatever the Bubble showed him and convinced me to leave," She sat down on a stool near her and placed her hand in her hands. "I was just going to let the town be destroyed while I sat in some stupid 80s paradise!" Henry walked over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Hey, you didn't though. Right?" He said softly, "Sure it took some convincing but you still came around," He reassured her. A crackle of static filled the air and everyone turned to face the radio, Mabel rushed to the radio and pushed a few buttons before turning the dial a bit and picking up the microphone.

"Grunkle Ford?" Mable spoke into the mic, "Are you there?"

"..... Mabel...?" A voice filtered through the and Mable cheered.

"Yes, it's me," She said, "Can you hear me okay?" There was a beat of silence before the static picked up and a voice came through again.

"Yeah-... hear... Hold..." The voice stopped and static filled the room for another second before the voice spoke again clearer this time. "Can you hear me? Mabel?"

"Yes, I can hear you just fine," Mabel answered with a smile.

"What seems to be the problem? It's not like you to use the radio unless something bad happened." Ford stated, Stan, moved forward and grabbed the mic from Mabel.

"Well we would have called you like normal people but somebody had to lose their phone, for the eighth time I might add," Stan explained pointedly.

"Hello to you too Stanley," He greeted his twin dryly.

"That's not the point," Mabel began as she grabbed the mic from Stan and sat down on the stool again. "Grunkle Ford something's wrong with Dipper, he's stuck in a bubble that was just like mine but no one can get inside it and I don't know how this happened. What if Bill's somehow back and he's trying to hurt Dipper, oh my gosh what are we going to do?"

"Mabel, Mabel, first you're going to need to calm down." Ford's voice cut out momentarily before returning clearly. Mabel took a few deep breaths and while Henry took her free hand in his and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "Now, you said Dipper is stuck in a bubble?" Fords asked seriously and Mable nodded before realizing he couldn't see her.

"Yes,"

"Do you know how this came to be? What led up to it?" Ford asked and shuffling could be heard as well and papers rustling from his end.

"I don't know, he went to a summons and he was acting normal before he left," Mabel answered as she chewed on her thumbnail. Ford hummed and seemed to be thinking, once again silence filled the room.

"I think I've got it," Ford finally said.

"What? Is it something bad, oh stars above-"

"Mabel, let him finish," Henry said gently, Mabel looked at him and nodded before looking back to the radio.

"Don't worry Mabel, I don't think it has anything to do with Bill." He began all three of the room's occupants unconsciously leaned forward waiting to hear what Stanford had to say. "My only guess is that this could be some kind of defense mechanism."

"Why would the kid need to lock himself away in some bubble when he's a strong demon or whatever?" Stan asked.

"It's not so much for physical defense but mental defense," Ford continued to explain. "Something must have been trying to get into his mind or whatever was messing with him became too much for him and he instinctively locked himself away from it. The bubble, in this case, isn't a prison but a shield for Dipper,"

"What could he be hiding from though?" Henry asked more to himself than Ford.

"I don't know," Ford answered.

"Reality," Mabel whispered.

"What?" Stan asked looking at Mabel worriedly, she looked up at him the brought the mic closer.

"He's hiding from reality, it's the only thing that makes sense. That's was why I didn't leave my bubble, he's hiding because everything is getting to him again," Mabel let out a sad chuckle, "He's hurting and he's not letting me help..." Mabel set the mic down and buried her hands in her hands. Henry put a hand on her shoulder she grabbed and squeezed it tightly.

"Mabel, it is not your fault." Ford began, "I'm pretty sure we can all agree who  _ is _ at fault here." It was left unsaid but everyone agreed who was to blame. A sharp ringing and some vicious static blared through the radio's speakers, "Damn, I'm going through a bad storm at the moment, my line's going to cut out. My only guess to get him out is to use the same method Dipper used for you-" He cut off abruptly and silence fell upon the room once again.

* * *

"I'm going back," Willow said and stood up walking to the door of their shared room.

"Wait," Hank called after her, Willow continued to move out the door and down the stairs. Hank glanced at Acacia who shrugged helplessly before following him and Willow down the stairs. "Willow, you can't just go back there without a plan."

"Also, Mom's never going to let you go by yourself," Acacia pointed out. Sure she was normally all for going headfirst without a plan but this was serious, who knew what would happen to Uncle Dipper if they damaged the bubble in any way. Willow turned and gazed at them with her hundred-year-old stare and Hank felt shivers crawl up his spine.

"Who said Mom had to know?" She asked and walked toward the front door.

"What are you going to do?" Hank cried but Willow didn't stop she opened the front door and stepped out onto the porch.

"I'll figure that out when I get there," She answered then turned back to her siblings again and looked at them with pleading eyes. "I'm not going to stand by when Uncle Dipper is obviously in trouble, not when I can help him."

"How do you know you can help him?" Acacia asked suddenly curious as to how this would turn out. Willow shook her head and rubbed her eyes with the heels of her palms.

"It's just a feeling like I just know," She sighed, "I can't explain it. Uncle Dipper has always done his best to protect us and has done so much for us, the least we could do is return the favor, now are you with me or not because whether or not you are I'm still going." She stared at them hoping that they would stick with her on this. Hank exhaled sharply through his nose and nodded curtly while Acacia shot her a toothy grin and nodded as well, Willow smiled softly at them. 

She knew she could always count on her siblings.

* * *

The triplets approached the bubble again, Acacia stepped forward and knocked on it gently.

"Seems pretty solid how are you supposed to get in there?" She asked turning to her sister and brother. Willow walked towards the bubble as well and stood next to Acacia looking up at it, she then placed her hand onto the bubble and was surprised to see it go through. With wide eyes, she turned to her siblings who in turn were gaping at her as well. "You could do that the whole time?!" Acacia shouted.

"I d-didn't know!" Willow defended herself.

"Well, now you can get inside, I just wasn't expecting it to be this easy," Hank stated. Willow nodded and looked at her hand still in the bubble she pulled it out and put it back in a few times to reassure herself she wouldn't be trapped inside of it.

"What are you waiting for?" Acacia asked nudging her shoulder, "You were the one who wanted to be a hero," She teased, Willow glared at her but it held no heat. She turned back to the bubble and took a deep breath.

"Kids!" The triplets whirled around at the sound of their Mother's voice, Mabel emerged with Stan and Henry hot on her heels both gasping for breath. "You can't do that!" She shouted and the kids flinched at her harsh tone, she noticed this and her glare softened as she moved to kneel in front of her kids. "I'm glad you want to help your Uncle but this is dangerous, and with you running off like that we were worried something happened to you," She said and wrapped her arms around them.

"Seriously kids," Stan said between gasps, "You're gonna give this old man a heart attack." Henry chuckled and walked over to the kids.

"Mom, I can help Uncle Dipper," Willow said after Mabel had let them go, Mabel's eyes widened when her daughter proceeded to slip her hand through the bubble with ease. She moved forward and tried to do the same but her hand came in contact with the hard outer shell once again.

"Willow, I don't think-"

"Please mom," Willow pleaded her eyes wide. "I'm the only one who can get in there, we can't just leave Uncle Dipper in there."

"What do you plan to do once you get in there?" Mabel asked gripping Willow's shoulders lightly.

"I-" Willow looked down, she hadn't thought that far. "I don't know..." She muttered ashamed.

"Hey, honey. It's okay, I just.." Mabel sighed, "The bubble is dangerous when you go inside it tries to keep you inside by showing you everything you could ever want, I'm afraid that if I let you go in there..."

"I won't come out?" Willow finished for her. Mabel closed her eyes tightly and nodded. Willow grabbed her Mom's hand catching her attention again. "I promise I'll come out, but how can I make sure Uncle Dipper comes with me?"

"You're most likely going to have to convince him," She answered and Willow frowned.

"It's not going to be easy is it?" Willow asked suddenly feeling like she wasn't.

"Since when has that ever stopped us?" Stan asked coming up from behind Mabel and smiling. 

"Yeah, we aren't Pines for nothing!" Acacia shouted from behind. Willow smiled to herself, Mabel squeezed her hand reassuringly.

"You got this," She whispered, Willow nodded and turned towards the bubble once more. She raised her hand allowing it to pass through she turned back towards her family they all were giving her various smiles of encouragement she nodded before stepping through the bubble fully.

* * *

Voices.

An overwhelming swell of voices surrounded Willow, some were shouting while others whispered directly into her ears. She couldn't see anything it was nothing but a black void all around her.

_ "I'm sorry..." _

_ "How could he do this to me?!" _

_ "I didn't mean it like that! Mabel come back!" _

_ "I don't understand..." _

_ "What did I do wrong?!" _

_ "Leave me alone..." _

_ "No... Don't leave me... Please..." _

_ "LEAVE ME ALONE!!" _

Silence.

Willow opened her eyes despite not recalling when she had closed them and looked around seeing that the darkness was now gone. Instead of the void, she had been in moments earlier was replaced with a softly lit forest much like the one outside of the bubble only this one was different. It was quiet, much too quiet for it to be real. There was no chirping of birds or the occasional snap of a branch stepped upon by an animal. It was just silent, so silent that it was unnerving. Willow hesitantly took a step forward and wasn't surprised when her footsteps refused to be heard, she glanced around once more before continuing to walk slowly through the silent woods. For a while, she didn't see anything out of the normal.

As Willow continued to walk through the silent woods she felt her unease grow. She looked to the sky and saw that the sun was shining brightly through the thick foliage of branches and leaves and the sky was clear of any clouds. She faintly remembered that when she first entered the bubble it was night. The young ginger was pulled from her musings when she heard a soft humming drift through the air accompanied by the sound of someone writing on paper. Knowing that it wasn't normal to be able to hear the latter so clearly unless right next to the writer freaked Willow out just a tad. She glanced around but didn't see anything that could lead her to the source of the noise, straining her ears she decided to go through a couple of bushes.

She pushed some of the small branches out of her way and looked past them, what she saw was breathtaking. There before her was a small pond filled with crystal clear water surrounded by beautiful flowers and plants to the left of the pond fallen over was a tree and atop it sat a young boy who happily hummed to himself as he wrote in a small journal. He didn't seem to notice her yet so Willow opted to keep quiet, she carefully removed herself from the bushes and moved to stand but lost her balance she managed to catch herself by putting her left foot down quickly but in the process stomped on a branch. Of course, that was when the bubble decided that sound was needed as the small stick let out a loud snap alerting the boy as he whipped around to stare in her direction.

For a moment neither of them said anything Willow watched as the boy sat frozen staring at her with big brown eyes, Willow took this moment to observe the child before her. He was most likely younger than her by a few years if his size was anything to go off of, he wore a red short-sleeved shirt with a blue vest over it and gray shorts along with blue sneakers. On his head was a blue and white baseball cap with a pine tree in the center, a very familiar-looking pine tree. Willow recognized it as one of the symbols on her Uncle's circle.

"Uncle Dipper...?" She asked hesitantly. The boy blinked and stayed silent for a moment before turning his body to fully face Willow.

"Who are you?" He asked softly, Willow noticed his muscles were tense and his arura radiated nervous energy and slight fear. Since he didn't know who she was she figured that she was going to have to go about this carefully.

"My name's Willow, I uh..." She glanced around herself then looked back to the young version of her Uncle. "I'm a bit lost..." She admitted. "Do you know where we are?" She wanted to know if he at least knew he was inside a warped version of reality. Dipper raised an eyebrow and looked at their surroundings as well as if he had just realized where he was, he looked back to Willow with wide suddenly fearful eyes.

"No... I-uh..." He stammered clutching his head with one hand with the other grasped onto the journal he was holding. "I... don't know," Willow frowned when Dipper continued to look around them frantically. Something wasn't right, was it something she had said? Or was he somehow remembering? She moved slowly and crouched down in front of him dually noting that she was right when she thought he was younger than her considering how small he was up close.

"What do you remember?" She asked warily. Dipper looked up at her and Willow was surprised to see that tears were forming in the corners of his eyes. Panicking that maybe she had been the cause of his tears she began to fail her arms wanting to comfort him but unsure of how to do so. "Are-are you okay?" Dipper must have just realized he was crying as his eyes widened and he was quick to wipe away the forming tears.

"Y-yeah... It's just I can't remember anything and I'm worried that I might be forgetting something important." Dipper tried to explain. Willow nodded in understanding before moving to sit next to him on the fallen tree. They sat in silence the only noise being the occasional sniffle from the young boy.

"So... what were you writing about?" Willow tried to change the subject before things got too awkward. Dipper glanced at his journal that had a blue cover with a silver pine tree in the center along with the number one written on it and opened it only to find it was empty. Willow looked on confused while Dipper continued to frantically flip through the pages seemingly searching for something.

"I-I can't r-remember...!" He cried flipping through the pages with more force now when he reached the end of the journal on the last page was a single image of a plain black triangle. Dipper froze and stared long and hard at the page, Willow's frown deepened and she leaned forward to get a closer look but was stopped when Dipper suddenly shouted and threw the journal into the trees where it erupted into blue flames. Dipper let a startled scream once he saw the fire and pushed himself backward falling off of the tree trunk. He fell on his back but quickly scrambled to his feet before running away, Willow knocked her self out of her stupor and hurried to follow him.

"Dipper!" She found herself calling out to him but the small boy continued to run, Willow could hear his labored breathing, not from strain but fear that she could see spiking sharply in thick tendrils of black. 

"Leave me alone!" He shouted, "I don't want to remember! I just-" He was cut off as he tripped over an uprooted portion of a tree. He continued trying to crawl away as Willow approached him before flipping over and scooted backward until his back hit a tree holding his hands against his chest he stared fearfully at Willow as she continued to slowly come closer.

"Hey, it's okay." She said holding her hands in a peaceful gesture. "I'm going to hurt you, I just want to get you out of here." She tried explaining but it didn't seem that Dipper had heard her.

"NO!" He shouted causing her to jump in surprise. "I don't want to hear your lies! I won't go back! You can't make me!" He shouted glaring daggers at Willow now. "I have no reason to trust you! You're covered in blue flames just like he was!" He screamed. Willow stopped advancing and froze, what did he mean by that? She looked down at her hands and saw that they was indeed blue fire spreading up her arms from her hands, she didn't recall summoning it. But what confused her more was what Dipper had said.

"Dipper, I-"

"Get away from me!" He shouted again but this time, not at Willow, the young girl felt a presence behind her. She turned around and saw not her Uncle but Alcor the Dreambender in all his glory. He stood tall his glowing gold eye the only colored part of his body as the rest of his shape was pitch black, his wings were spread wide as he stood staring at his human half. 

Willow didn't understand, she knew her uncle used to be a human so that would explain his human half but why was it separate from his other half.

"Y̷̢̧̲͔̯͗̽̊̈́̑̏͐͊̕ö̶̮̣͎́̓͆̓̇͛̈̒̈́̾͜ṵ̶̞̹͎̺̙̣̽̓̚͝ ̷̭̲̼̍̌͝͝w̷̫͎̎̆̋̈́͝͝ǫ̶̠̳͕͈͔͙̟̍̎̅̇͂̐͒̽̎̈́͜n̶̡̢̡̲̖̬̠͚͉̯͋̔̄̏͐̿͘'̸̢̹̔̐ͅṯ̷̳͓̹̭̐ ̴̡̪̞͉̩̻̤͕̫̒͆̈́̇̕s̴̡̨̖̑̏u̶͕̰̯̩̙̞͐̏̒̇̔̑̒́͆̒r̵͔̥͇̤̱͒̅̾v̴͙͊͗̓i̷̝̫͈̔̍̐̈͘v̷̡̜̂̒͝e̷̡̮̺̰̝͔̰͐̂̉ ̵̲̥̥̮̥͎͖̭̥̮̈́͠͠o̸̢̿̏͐̅͊̋̐̀̓̄ń̷̻̣̩͇͈̱͌̑̆͝ ̷̢̺̬͍̦̼͔̤̭͛̀̋͊͆ŷ̸̬̜̰͚̖͎̫̹̗̹̊̅ȏ̵̻͑͐͜u̵̝̪͙̪̯̭͕̩͖̽̍̈́́̊̕͝͝r̴̨͖͕̟̳̎̏ ̵̳̼̺̜̱͎́̓͌̏o̸̧̫̣̞͔̺̳͒̕w̷̬͖̦͖͋̌̓͋͌̀̋n̵̫͕̥͉̆͌.̴̢̘͋͗̚͜ ̷̧̦̤̻͕͕̯̭̈́̒̓Y̸̦̏̒̓͗̊̑̃̓͗o̸̠̞̞̓̊̌̾̃̊́̀͝u̷͕͓̬̞͎̙̙͖̙̭͒̀͂͘ ̶͔͙̬̪̩̖̔̋͂́̚͜k̴̛͔̐̾͑̉͠͝n̶͉͕̮̤̠̱͛͂̾͗͐̎͊͜o̵̧̨̡̡͚̦͇̙̘̝̿͋̅͛̿̃͋̓͠w̶̡̡̛̥͚̟̳̭̺̌̑͑̈́͝ ̷̻̥̞͈̖̻̫̉̉̉̾̆̚ẗ̵̛̫͔̭̉͋̏̑̍̓͘h̸͖͕̍̾̈́̓̎̽a̴̧̙͎͐̐̒̃̈̐̎̀͘͜ͅt̷̡̨͎̆̏̐̑̌̽́̊͘͠.̴̧̻̣͕̭̻̯̊̓̈̃̔͋͝" It spoke calmly it's voice echoing with its demonic undertone. Dipper shook his head in defiance and pressed himself against the tree trunk even more.

"I don't care! I can't live like this anymore!" He shouted curling into himself and hugging his knees. "I don't want to go back..." He sobbed. Willow saw a deep blue seeped into his once fear-stricken aura and felt sadness creep into her heart as well. She once again moved towards Dipper but he shied away from her the moment she raised her hand to console him, Willow let her hand drop to her lap and sat down a few feet away from him.

"Uncle Dipper," Willow called softly, Dipper didn't move but the shaking of his shoulders stopped momentarily so she knew she had his attention at least. "I can't even begin to understand what it's like to live as you are but I do know that you're-  _ our _ family doesn't want to lose you," She scooted a bit closer to him and metally cheered when he didn't flinch this time. "It's selfish to say but I don't think any of them would want you to leave, I know it's hard but we can help," Willow placed a hand on his shoulder and he looked up slowly. Alcor watched from a fair distance with a look of indifference. Willow continued, "You have to let us help you though, how can we know that you're hurting when you don't say anything?" She asked softly.

Dipper looked at Willow with awe in his eyes, he hadn't thought about what he would be leaving behind if he didn't go back to Alcor. Tears poured from his eyes when he realized he was nearly willing to leave Mabel behind. He was so focused on what had gone wrong in his life that he failed to remember the good of it also. If he hadn't become a demon he wouldn't have moved back to Gravity Falls causing Mabel to have met Henry, and if that hadn't happened then he wouldn't have been able to have his niblings in his life. He wouldn't have the family he had now.

"S̵̞̬̣̄̃̓̈́̋͒̉́́ȩ̷̨̛̤̈́̓̀͗̔̑e̸̡̩͔̺̗̭̼͎̖̐̓̀͒̑̀͌͋̽̕͜?̴̻̘̌̀̍͠ ̷̖͂͒̎̾̎͝B̵̨̟̫̖̱̉ȩ̴͈̣̠̱̬̺͚̑͋͊̈́c̴̘̤̩̰̩͈̔͂́́͗͝ở̸̧͓̱̈̉͊͐̋͘͜m̷̡̛̭̺͍͈̞̖̋́̀̌̎̕ǐ̶̝͙̣͖̝̈̄́̃̄̏͂͠͝n̷̗͚̯͍̈ǵ̸̢̫̝̱͖̜̙̦͍̖͌̇̈́̇ ̸̯̫̮̥̻̘̽á̴̻̥͕͇̝͎̜̈̊̇̀͌͘ ̶̛̣̙̮̳̳̠̜̖͐͛̋͛̈́̉̅̕͘d̵̰̹̪͇͇̹̮͈͎̀̾̅͂͊̋̓͝ͅë̷̝̲͔̺̣̟͖͍́̂͜m̵̭͌͌̏̇͝o̸̼̲͙̍̀͒͂͊͗̃̊̕n̶̻̽̂͊́́̃͠ ̵̘̳̘̦̗͐̒̔̑͑h̶̡͚̱͇̲͎͍͙̼̺͑̈́͛͌a̴̢̨̺͉̗̯͙̓̐͛̽̊̈́͘̕͜s̸͍̱͔͙͂͛̈́̏̆̋͑̂̈́͝ͅ ̸̧͍̬̖̀̊͂͊́̎̕͝ş̶̹̘̺̙͔̰̙͌ͅó̶̢̧̨̩̫̦͔̥͎̉̈̋̂̈́̑͐̀m̵͙͖͖͓̥͆͂ẻ̵̲̩̟̘̈ ̶̛̟̓̒̚p̵̧͉̼̻̺̝̀̀͆̆̆̐́̕ė̴̱̀̈́͗̑̓͛͐r̸̠̅̈́̾͒k̷̡͚͗̇̓͆̑́ͅś̶̅̍͒̽̾͜͝.̷̡͛̄͌̀̚" Alcor pointed out reading his mind, it wasn't hard seeing as they were still connected somewhat. They always would be. Dipper scowled and shot a glare at his demonic half while Willow watched in confusion.

"Shut up..." Dipper grumbled. He looked to Willow again and frowned hanging his head in shame. "I'm sorry you had to see me like this." He said and Willow smiled softly.

"It's fine, I can't expect to hold everything in all the time and neither can they." Willow waved him off and stood up holding out a hand to him. "Besides I'm not the one you should be apologizing to, Mom was pretty worried about you," She pointed out as she helped him up.

"Oh crap, Mabel's going to kill me isn't she?" He asked as he facepalmed causing Willow to laugh. Dipper turned to Alcor who stood patiently waiting for him. "I guess I have no choice, huh?" He asked him, the demon chuckled lowly but it wasn't sinister in any way.

"Ñ̷̙̠̗̱͙͓̾̅͐̾̚̕ò̶͈̺̮̠̿̈̃̽̊͠͠͝,̶̼̫̃̿͘͘̚ ̸̡̡͎̹̝͖̻͘y̸̡̼͚̲̣̻͔̓̃̏̍̐̒̈̌͜o̵̥͙̅̈̋̐̆̀͑́̚u̵̡͇͚̺̜̳̤͑͆̍́̑̽͆͘͝ ̷͖̅͂̌̍̋̓̽d̵̺̜̖̬̹̝̠̰̫̾̑̾̎̍̐̚̚͠o̴̡̳̪͕̟̎̇̈́̾̏̀ͅņ̷̫̳̮͇̝̩̻̹̝́̃̔̓̅̿̒́'̴̝̗̣̥͍̽̽̇̈̏̕t̶̮̪̠͉͙̘̄̐͛.̶̨̖̥̯͙̔̄̉̂̐̄͜͝ͅ ̸̰̙͇̠̼̹̎̆̔̏͝Ŝ̸̡̲̦͉̻̜͕̀͌̔̾̑̈́̚͠ͅͅą̵͉̭͎̹̋̃̉͊ͅd̷͓̜̞̋̍̐l̴͍͈͈̻͐͗y̴̲̜̌̐̚.̵̣̱̱̯̜̺̬̙̜̈́͂͜" Alcor said as Dipper walked towards him, he stretched out his hand for the small human to take. Dipper looked at it warily the back at Willow who nodded encouragingly with a soft smile. Dipper smiled back at her then looked back at Alcor with determination in his eyes, he took a deep breath before forcefully taking the demon's hand. Blue flames erupted from the clasped hands but this time Dipper didn't shy away from them instead he embraced them as they swallowed his and Alcor's bodies forcing them to join into one being once more.

Willow covered her eyes as the flames grew brighter and brighter until white filled her vision and she could see no more.

* * *

Outside of the bubble Hank gasped and called out to his family as he noticed the chains surrounding the glowing sphere were beginning to melt and the bubble itself was brightening before a white light flashed momentarily blinding them before disappearing taking the bubble with it. The forest was once again dark, Mabel hurriedly took the flashlight from Henry and shined it on the place where the bubble once was only to find Willow standing there looking around confused. She ran to embrace her daughter who tried to push her away still looking around worriedly.

"Willow, what's wrong?" She asked.

"Where's Uncle Dipper?" She asked answering her Mother's question with one of her own. The family glanced around the clearing but didn't see any sign of the demon until a small voice called out to them.

"I'm over here..." Willow was the first to move towards the source of the voice. She shined the flashlight and saw her Uncle laying in the grass with a grimace on his face, only he was the same size as when she had found him in the bubble. He was wearing his normal attire but in smaller size most likely to fit his now small form, he looked up at his family before a faint red spread across his face and he looked away from them in embarrassment.

"Don't remember you being this tiny," Stan stated causing Dipper to begin to sputter out excuses but he fell silent when Mabel approached him with a deep frown marring her features. Dipper gulped and waited for the onslaught to begin but was surprised when she fell to her knees and hugged him instead. Dipper was frozen for a moment before he hesitantly recuperated the gesture.

"You need to start telling me when things start to get to you," She grounded out as she squeezed him. Dipper could only nod in silence. Mabel pulled back and looked him up and down, "How are you even here? You only get tiny when you're low on power," She pointed out. He sighed and looked down at himself.

"I don't have enough power to get back to the mindscape so I guess you're stuck with me," He smiled at her but it didn't quite reach his eyes, Mabel frowned and opened her mouth to speak but stopped short when he mouthed 'later' to her. She nodded and stood up before noticing that Dipper wasn't following. "You coming bro-bro?" He looked down in shame again causing her frown to return.

"I can't move... That bubble took a lot of power to make," He groaned and covered his face with his hand. He yelped when he was suddenly picked up and saw that it was Henry who had picked him up. "Henry! I'm not a child!" He shrieked only causing the larger male to chuckle. The triplets were stifling their own giggles as well as their now tiny uncle complained the entire way home.

**Author's Note:**

> Hello and thanks for reading this! I'm sorry if some parts seem rushed but I've been working on this for a long time and I wanted to be able to finish it before I lost interest and this would just sit and rot until I got my head out of my butt and continued it. So yeah! Hope you liked it anyways!
> 
> If you liked this please let me know what you think, feedback is appreciated as well as kudos. (wink, wink) Please pardon any mistakes I may have overlooked.


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